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Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Review: Never to Sleep - Rachel Vincent

Don't Close Your Eyes.

Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin's strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she's put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then, Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream—and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep...forever. Could this world be real? Or does insanity run in the family...?

Review:Never to Sleep is a novella in Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series and is set during the time line of the 5th book. I wouldn't recommend reading the story until after If I Die or you will pick up a minor spoiler but any fans of the series are sure to enjoy this novella. The story is told from Kaylee's cousin Sophie's point of view and introduces a new character called Luca who I believe will have a larger role to play in the next book Before I Wake.

I have never been a particular fan of Sophie but then I don't think I'm actually supposed to be. She is shallow and self centred and the way she treats Kaylee has always really irritated me. She is one of those popular, bitchy students who I hated at school and don't particularly enjoy reading about now as an adult. So it probably won't surprise you to hear that I was hesitant to pick up Never to Sleep. Having said that I'm a massive fan of the Soul Screamers series and there was no way I wanted to miss out on a story set in this world. Rachel Vincent never fails to write superb stories that capture my full attention so I knew I could trust her this time too.

It surprised me but I actually found it really interesting to see things from Sophie's point of view. She is never going to be my favourite character but there is more to her than meets the eye and although she is still the selfish girl we're used to seeing she also has a brave side that I wasn't expecting. She isn't as stupid as she comes across as and she copes surprisingly well when she is thrown in at the deep end of the supernatural world that Kaylee already knows so well. They actually have more in common than I think either of them would believe but I don't think there is much chance of Sophie admitting that any time soon. I absolutely loved Luca and can't wait to see more of him in Before I Wake - I have no idea what his role will be but I have a feeling it's going to be a shocker. Reading this novella just made me even more excited to pick up the next book and I'd highly recommend it to Soul Screamers fans!

Source: Purchased

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